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Lest we forget... "I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread" Psalm 37:25 And our God is still on the throne!

As someone with chronic depression joy is a bit scarce for me but it does happen. Sometimes it really does just happen for no discernible reason. Sometimes there's a reason. I was certainly joyful when I finally heard from a friend who'd been missing for around three months and that she was okay. I'm happy that a potential door to better my situation in life has been opened. What may be the weirdest and most reliable source of joy stems from something I refer to as reconnecting with myself. It consists of revisiting important events in my past and things that I associate with myself and the more happy or comforting memories I have. It might be a bit vain of me to feel this way but I love myself. I'm very thankful to God for making me the way He did and for the people and events that were part of the process. Psalm 139:14 says "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I really take that verse to heart and believe it's true of us all on multiple levels from the amazing way the human body is engineered down to the intricacies of our personalities. Sometimes it's just really exciting and fulfilling for me to bask in that and be thankful to God for it.

I gave my wife a bouquet of flowers today. I love her. Women like flowers. Her eyes lit up just like the first bunch I gave her fifty yrs ago. A day for lovers is not a bad day. Find someone to love. Give them something they like. Or love your neighbor. I'm getting a lot of years behind me, and have never heard any of this negative spew that I have heard on this forum about this day. To the best of my memory, I have never heard anybody say they hate Valentines day, or the pagan origins. Seems there is always some holiday/book/old classic movie/celebration etc etc that has at least some tiny tangible thread tied into some past origins that's just not perfect, and someone is going to let us all know. There is only one true God. Two people. Standing side by side. Doing the exact same thing. Exactly. One is sinning. One is praising and thanking God. Only one has faith in his action. Anything without faith is sin. If you do not have the faith, don't. (and sin) And that's cool, and wise. If you have faith, thank and praise God in your choice. Each is responsible for his own actions, to God. I am not responsible for others lack of faith. I cannot see how on a public forum, not fully knowing each other, that someone with faith will not eventually cause a weaker brethren to stumble (in their lack). I can eat the "sacrificed to the idols" meat. And give thanks to God. Can you?

I was just explaining above that I despise Satan. I just feel like sometimes i focus on it too much and it gets me down seeing Satan manifest his evil on the world. But I suppose its best to know the truth of evil even if it is shocking and hard to accept. I always want to know where Satan is. Im always in the watch tower looking out for Satan. If i can't see Satan then he might be deceiving me so i always want to see where he is and what his doing.

So here's challenge. Rather than celebrating love one day per year, why not once per month, or once per week? Rather than candy, why not say "I love you" with a backrub, a hot bath, or just a long hug t the end of a frustrating day. Christ commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and our wives as He loved the church. That's some strong, powerful stuff there. Here is something to remember; God is love. All love comes from God. You may not have someone special to share love with, but we can all share love with each other. That's what our Father would want for us.

So often i read about the desperate christians coming into many Christian Forums, telling people of their hopeless situation, jobless, homeless, abused by family and needed to get out of the house, etc. and the only place they could find is the Christian Forums, NOT THE CHURCH. What a pity, these people are our brothers and sisters unable to face competition of the world and neglected by government, if not us who help them who else will ? If we cannot shelter them in our house how about using the asset of the church to help sheltering them ? Any church is able to help small number of just two or three people and it doesnt require permission for emergency. What is that million dollar church buildings for ? Do we realise the world doesn't need that expensive buildings ?, but they need a place where they can be saved and feel the love of Jesus healing and protecting them in need. Instead many churches have been built like a commercial university where people learn Theology and pay the abused tithe. I often post this below picture of how actually a church should serve God, may be some of you are bored to see this, if we really want our fellow christians in need to find help instead of sharing their story at Christian Forums only. If your church cannot do this howbeit you people can shelter them at your beautiful house. Won't the world praise the churches and glorify God seeing your good deed ? There will be no Bible in the coming antichrist NWO and all churches shall be banned, we do not own that buildings forever and its coming to an end. What i see is some christian ministries trying to convert a slum area of unbelievers by quoting verses on the streets. God said HEAL PEOPLE FIRST then you can start talking about the kingdom of God, Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you. If we are not gifted with healing, then bring medical aids, food for the hungry. If we cannot help fellow christians howbeit we want to help the world. I seriously question all pastors why its this old granny with her old bones who was serving the desperate people. Its not the big palace style church that i want to visit. Never.

Not the kind of joy people pretend to have. No I mean real joy. If you have it, how did you get it? What is your joy dependent on? I depend on Jesus Christ for all of my provision including His strength to my inner man so long as I stay away from sin and seek to follow all of His ways, yet as a melancholy I don't have that dynamic sort of inner joy some people claim to have. If you have it, how would you describe it to the rest of the world? Does is wane at times? Or could we be confusing emotion over something else? JOY- A feeling of great pleasure and happiness. How does one have this joy amidst life's demands? The world can temporarily substitute this with drugs and other vices. In truth we are told that on this earth we will have trouble, so I see pleasure in the faith that one day we will all be relieved from this old earth the way it presently is. Until then we must either learn how to be content in trouble or fall to it. You can have contentment with out joy but you can't have joy without contentment. A content person is not a complaining person. A joyful person is not someone who is constantly complaining. We are told to be content as Christians. God hates the complaining attitude as can be seen in the OT where the Israelites complained about eating the same manna every day among many other things. Yet many of us are constantly looking for Friday every week or looking for pay day or vacation or retirement. We are always looking to get to something we don't have and therefore we seem to function on different levels of sadness rather than progressing shades of happiness. It is much easier to be content and even joyful when life is treating us well. When life begins to get difficult how far does our contentment go then? If what we have is better than what the 'world of the unsaved' has presently, then why do some of us live as if we are worse off than they are? Why do many of us pursue the exact same things as they do? Something should be different about real Christians. Our faith sustains us through the promises given to us that MOSTLY apply to our future. In similar ways to my above comments on how men always look ahead, this is also looking ahead to a better day. What about the here and now?

We must remember if we are going to become as Christ it starts with us first. Never be quick to point the finger until we first search ourselves.

“Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” ‭‭John‬ ‭13:31-32‬ ‭KJV

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:12-13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.” ‭‭3 John‬ ‭1:11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” ‭‭Jude‬ ‭1:17-21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As a longtime Bible studier I have used many, many translations. For my everyday reading I normally use the NKJV or the NIV versions. But when I am really doing a study of a particular word, verse or topic I will use many translations and then let the Holy Spirit move in the discernment of the scripture. I love that we have Bible apps now that allow us to compare several versions at one time! If I really get into digging for truth, knowledge, and wisdom I will use the concordances to look up the word or verse in it's original language. There are so many times that by study and meditation the Holy Spirit reveals to me exactly what my search was about. I seek and I find just as He promised. Day after day, year after year, He continues to amaze me with His personal touches on each individual life. I am ever so thankful and continue to praise and adore Him!!

Our experiences shape our perceptions and biases. The problem I see more in men is the lack of masculinity - not taking responsbility, not standing up when they should. So many men want to have sex but do not want to face the consequences i.e. the baby. Same with marriages. Men make a commitment to love a woman till death but they forget that commitment as soon a younger one comes along. Of course I being a man will have my own biases.

Manna casserole? Creamed manna? Grilled manna on palm leaves? I see your point there @Dennis1209. I might have liked the chocolate covered manna. Being a meat and potatoes man myself I can see where the same food for a long time could get a little boring. My prayer might be " Lord this isn't absolutely necessary, but if you could please rain a few slices of cheese and some greens down I would greatly appreciate it.Maybe a chicken wing or two?" Recollecting back before this the Israelite had been in bondage for 400 years to the Egyptians. They were slaves treated like cattle. All of the miraculous things that had happened to get them where they were was nothing short of amazing.All of the plagues sent to Egypt that none of them felt, but all of them seen. How quickly a sense of entitlement sets in. Who knows? Maybe the manna was a test from God. We tend to take each stage of blessing for granted and then want something else it seems. Ecclesiastes 1:7-9 …7All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. 8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.… the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. ....and apparently the belly is never satisfied either. Men seem to always think MORE will solve the problem. We drive by some very rich neighborhoods here sometimes. HUGE houses. Three and four car garages. Enough room for four families in one house. You get the picture. What are they doing to some of these houses? Adding on more space to them. Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon is building the largest yacht in the world. This yacht is so large he is paying to have a bridge removed temporarily so he can get it from port to the ocean. They now have submarine yachts. These ships are also submarines that can stay under water for extended periods of time.These are private vessels not military. I believe this goes to show that men are never satisfied. No matter how much money they have. No matter how much you give someone they want more. I sometimes hear conversations among Christians about what they are up to and it's surprising how much of these conversations are centered around the same kinds of things the world is after. They are doing this and doing that and going here and going there. I am often involved in a home repair project, so you might see me discussing some of that too. My point though is, that if we're going to brag, lets brag about Jesus. The best thing that ever happened to us should be Jesus. If it wasn't, then we are no different from the world.

Unless your starving.... ( oh the joy of meals on wheels wings home delivery) I think the vast majority in America have not an iota of understanding of real hunger, worldwide. But I'm like you, Dennis, and as for food, although I'm a meat and potatoes simpleton (with hot sauce/peppers), I adhere to the "variety is the spice of life" habits. I can eat leftovers 3-4 days in a row. But each time I spice it up with whatever I can find (browsing) in the fridge or my bottles of peppers and sauces.

I have briefly talked about lasting joy in my personal testimony. Trying to fill that empty lonely void with something material for temporary happiness. I could compare it to drug addiction, getting a fix and it wears off, then wanting more and better stuff. There is no inner peace and satisfaction with that. True and lasting joy comes from knowing your eternal status, where your eternal home is, and what the Lord Jesus did for us to redeem us. I'm not making light of the seriousness of the subject at hand. But I'd like to play the devil's advocate with a parody for a moment. I suspect "manna" was a seed or grain, that was ground to make unleavened bread. I can imagine myself walking around the desert each day, given a loaf of flat Wonder Bread to eat, day after day. I should be thankful and grateful to the Lord for His provision. But my human nature is accustomed to variety with some meat. I'm a carnivore, and some cooked quail would be mighty fine to complement that manna. Now, what's for dessert and where's the beef Have you ever thought about how much quail it would take to feed around 2-3 million people? How many 12 ga. shotgun shells it would take to harvest all those quail It sure would be nice if those quail were as dumb today. I wouldn't have to get a hunting license or migratory bird stamp, a gun, and hunting gear, look over my shoulder for the Game Warden because I was well over my limit. I'd just walk on over to them and pick them up. I forget where it mentions it in the Bible, but I recall manna as having a honey taste? No matter how nourishing or how good something tastes, like ice cream, if that's all you eat, I think it's human nature to get bored and tired of the same thing day in and day out?

she really loved it and it made today ok

I agree with these verses. I do think God give the gift of tongues. My belief is speaking tongues is only other language like an American speaking in tongues can speak Russian or Japanese.

No, I have not. Who is/was he? A man of faith, with the real gift of faith.

I've wondered the same/similar thoughts, Starise. I think when I have felt the joy scripture refers to is when I often see myself in a situations with no out, or some inevitable bad situation that has to run its course, yet I 'feel' a certain the knowledge, or joy in the knowledge/faith/trust, that everything is going just as God has planed, he is in control, and as my wife is always telling me when I get worried about something, she says 'it will all work out' And it does. And I count it all joy. I thing my understanding is that joy shows up in the struggles.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the Lord!

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yes. Quite so. This is something I am delving into in my meditations. Lots to unpack here. In a nutshell, we are not passive observers. Heaven is not a holiday. Much work will be done by those who enter. Much work.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this video.

Yes he is lurking i like mike’s teachings on James “DEALING WITH THE DRAGON (JAMES 1: 13-15)” - youtube the snake comparison he makes 🐍, when temptations of sin arise imagine the rattle from the rattlesnake a warning that Satan is near Good video

No, I just have no respect whatsoever for the billions of years nonsense. You cannot prove it, you only wish it, and I have actually worked with spectrometers and I know their limitations with dating. About a year or two ago, I posted some actual Ar/Ar isotope values, and asked you guys to translate the values into time. No takers, including yourself. If you say so, but it appears it did, anyway. According to the Bible, and God, the whole planet was a sea for a while there. Seems like the perfect conditions for hydrologic sorting. The sorting happens on it's own. All it needs is scraping of layers to exist in a jar, with water and be violently shaken. Try it. It will sort out every time. Then you can name each age in your jar, sorted in less than an hour. The first thing a scientist should learn is that consensus is not science. I bet if you get a room full of atheists, the consensus will be that there is no God. If you get a consensus of Christians, they would have the opposite view. What would happen if you got a room full of secular Geologists and asked them about this problem? I am no swine, and am certainly not ignorant.

Sometimes, good otherwise people choose evil because it offers immediate pleasures, even if the later results are bad. We get drunk knowing that the hangover follows. We get high knowing that depression follows. We engage in adultery knowing we could sire children we may not want to care for. Every turn away from God takes us further from the person we are intended to be. Fortunately, it is us who have turned away, not God. Jesus still stands at the door, knocking. We can still open the door to Him, invite Him in, and turn way from the things that have led us into darkness. Darkness and light cannot co-exist. The light of God's love can chase away the darkness in our souls. True love and joy are only a prayer away, regardless how lost we may feel. Addiction is a demon we cultivate inside us. However, no demon can dwell in the same place as the Holy Spirit. Let us choose to embrace the Lord and His light, and let that light drive the darkness from us.

I would share.

Hello. I see it the same way. Everyone puts on immortality, the righteous and the wicked. Those who are Christ's will be raised immortal at His return at the 7th trumpet. Everyone else is raised immortal after the millennial kingdom.

Sometimes I like COLORS. Other times not.

If only...I could really learn to love as He does....and be filled with more of His compassion.

Deuteronomy 30:14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Psalm 1:2-3 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth it’s fruit in it’s season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Why? Should I not HATE AND ABHOR what He hates and abhor? Of course! I've learned that if I don't allow myself to hate and abhor all evil (not evil humans, only their evil deeds), I may perhaps get so lukewarm and never minded towards the evil, that I end up with starting to do evil deeds myself? Well, I prefer to stay aware and awake, and continue to hate and abhor all evil.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

“O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭25:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, And delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: For there is no want to them that fear him.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭34:7-9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:23-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; Psalm 27:4-5

I can't entirely not feel bad for those people who will go there. Even the worst of sinners. Focusing on those souls who will be condemned with no way out is a tragic thought for me and it motivates me to want to share the gospel with them in any way I can, even though I can't save them. Only God can do that. Since we still live in the saving age where men can come to the Lord let's pray for all men.